An Agent's Best Friend
by MidnightMoonWarrior
Summary: The Kremlin had been blown to hell, the Secretary is in Russia, and there was a dog staring at him with an eerily familiar 'you are an idiot' look. "His name's Brandt" (Or, the AU in which Hanaway is still alive, Cobolt is still trying to nuke the world, and Ethan has a highly trained dog named Brandt that follows him home.)
1. Chapter 1

Edit, clarification of the prompt. So there's a comic I found in which Brandt is called a dog that Ethan randomly adopted and dragged on this grand adventure known as the movie. And while that isn't exactly true, it was still amusing to be to think of that summary of the movie in a more realistic sense. That being said… Prompt: AU where Brandt is a dog.

Does it make much sense? Maybe not, but this is fanfiction, why not.

Also, we really didn't see much of Agent Hanaway, so I'm making up his personality as I go. From his look alone I get the feeling that he has an agent crush on Hunt though, but that's just me. There is going to be a lot of Hanaway in this because we kind of know the others, but since he is going to be thrown into the plot...kind of need to give him some time. And yes this is implied Jane/Hanaway, deal.

Finally, I wrote this while drinking flavored vodka. Pardon any spelling mistakes; let me know what you think. 3

That being said, let's get to it.

* * *

Agent Trevor Hanaway decided he liked Budapest this time of year. It wasn't too warm, but not too chilly either; perfect weather for stalking a target. The other times he had been in the city were under the cover of darkness or him spending his time running operations in an enclosed space. But now, waiting for his mission to begin he found himself fond of the city, or at least what he could see from the train station.

Still, he felt on edge. A bit of nerves was to be expected, even when most everything was planned out and the last piece of information was about to be supplied. But his well-developed instincts, ones that had been drilled into his brain throughout years of training, felt something ominous in the air. Not immediate danger, but something drew him away from his eyeball twitching from the intrusion of the high tech lens.

Paranoia was beneficial to an agent of his stature, of his agency, but one had to wonder when it became something that had you jumping at the imaginary rather than predicting the near impossible.

He focused, listening to his team in his ear. They had been quiet for some time now; deliberate where before there had been banter. Despite knowing where there were, Agent Benjamin Dunn in the clock tower and Agent Jane Carter on an inbound train, he wondered if his underlying unease was connected to them.

Never would he admit to it, even to knowing them, but he was fond of them. Even under torture, another well learned asset in his skill set, he would never say he enjoyed working with them. Benji was lighthearted if inexperienced and she, well she was a force he observed in awe. Forceful, yet sly and cunning if pushed to it, and so smart. It would be a conflict of interest, and potentially dangerous, so he would never pursue it, but at times he wished he could be around her more than just during work. Just seeing her during missions limited their interactions to specific environments. There was so much he could learn; such as if her eyes narrowed the same way while playing a board game as they did when she attempted to crack a coded message. Would she be impressed with his cooking skills or just laugh when he burned something? Were her lips as soft as they looked?

He breathed, watching the cloud that escaped his lungs in the cool weather. Now was not the time to consider that. The point was that they worked well together, which was the reason why they had been given the simple yet important mission. Intercept the letter that would help identify a major player in the Russian web of secrecy, Cobalt. Simple, but in need of precision, which always added a level of stakes to the already risky career he was in.

It was time sensitive, something being announced by Benji over their secure channel. "ETA two minutes on the courier."

She still didn't have the name of the individual he was supposed to neutralize and steal from; he pondered if that was where his trepidation came from. He heard her knock at a compartment door, her breathing hitching slightly as she prepared for the next step.

"Wild cat, your train is six minutes out." It was time for action, something he knew she was thinking of as well.

A crash of glass and groan of a man came to his ear as she breached the hostiles' room. He suspected she kicked one of them into the window, the idea making him grin to himself. Her kicks hurt, a fact he knew from being on the other side of the punching bag during practice and feeling them directly, he could still feel the bruises despite them having faded since the last time. He couldn't help but feel a little smug that he could take her punches when others couldn't.

Sounds of pain continued to come over his earpiece, a fact that agitated him. The sound of a switchblade nearly put him on edge out of instinct, but he knew she could handle it. The fight was taking too long, the courier was about to be in the station. He activated the earpiece, giving a reminder she knew was going to come "It's now or never, Bobcat."

"The courier delivering the file, what's his name?" She said firmly, the gun cocking after.

He paced the terminal, he hated when the smallest detail threw off their planning. The train slowed before stopping before him as more dialogue came into his ear. "Go ahead, shoot."

Gritting his teeth, he muttered as his pulse increased "We're out of time."

Searching the crowd, even though there little he could do concerning the crowds around him, he shifted back and forth trying to do something except feel the dread he had earlier expand. "I need a name folks, I can't track all these people at once." Speaking to his team, but mostly just voicing his frustrations, he hoped something would soon change or he would have to call the mission a wash.

Grunts of pain came over the channel again. Well that was creative he thought, as finally a name came through. "Marek Stefanski. For the love of God..." That was his girl, he would have been tempted to grin if not for the tension of the situation.

"You got it?" She said and he could tell the pride in her voice, something he would have to knock out of her in spar later.

"Marek Stefanski" He repeated, loading up the profile on his device. A face appeared and finally he could do his part, which he did looking up into the crowd again with a shot of actually finding his target.

"Searching" He muttered to himself, switching from face to face as the technology attached to his eye did its part to identify the courier. Moments later, there was a lock. Keeping eye contact he reached down to twist his ring to reveal its true purpose.

Pushing his apprehension of the situation aside, he made the new man the focal of his world. Sliding into the crowd to position himself next to the man, he spoke in a way that he would get teased for his dramatic delivery later "I'll take it from here."

The hidden needle slid into the man's hand as they pushed the door open together, the sedative quickly taking effect. He made an apologetic move to fool bystanders, before moving to catch the man he knew would soon collapse. "Hey are you alright buddy?" They both knew he wasn't, but it was irrelevant as the courier was soon out cold. Taking the man's bag, he for a moment felt safe in the accomplishment.

"File's secure" He nearly grinned, to think he had been nervous about something outside of the mission facts.

Of course it wasn't that easy.

 _Shit_. "Bobcat someone else has crashed this party." He spoke, before turning away from his pursuers. Nothing was ever that easy, yet he was glad he had not let his guard down completely.

"I'm not alone." He confirmed to his team, before readying himself for what would come next.

"Local police?" Jane asked. He wished, they would be easier to misdirect and fool, but he was not that lucky.

"No, armed hostiles." He conveyed, readjusting the bag on his shoulder for the chaos that every mission tends to have a bit of. It's nostalgic to look back on and exciting to recount to the rookies, but in the moment? It's terrifying. He's experienced it before, but with his legs tensing for an escape, he wonders what unexpected thing will be thrown at him this time.

He breaks into a run, one man already within arm's reach to grab him, which he does. Using the stair railing as leverage, he sends his knee into the man's jaw before throwing him to the ground. The man already forgotten, he pulls himself up the staircase that leads to the roof where they placed to the contingency escape device.

"Maintain, I'm coming. I will get to him to back him up."

In his ear, Jane is running too. Part of him wants her here, but the other doesn't want her involved in something he could likely handle. He can't protect her from the job, despite wanting to and he moves to focus on the stairs beneath his feet.

"Negative operator, rondevu the southwest corner in 60 seconds." Benji is also running, because there are two sets of breathing in his ears other than his own. They're worried, a side effect of them working well together and him being fond of them, unfortunately meaning they are fond of him as well.

He reaches the roof, activating the device in his pocket while sprinting towards the edge of the building. With the two hostiles behind him and bullets whizzing past him, he knew his aim was going to need to be spot on so that he wasn't a sitting duck on the ground. Twisting in midair, he found himself thankful for the aerial portion of marksmanship despite finding it part of the ridiculous school of Ethan Hunt crazy at the time. Who would need to shoot a target while you were falling? Him apparently, as he shot true and saw his enemies slump lifelessly.

Then, he hit a wall of air and for a moment wished he had been shot instead. The feeling of getting the air knocked out of you was unpleasant, but having it knocked out of your lungs from behind? He groaned before rolling to the side, hoping that their safe house would have a tub for him to soak his bruising back muscles. The sound of footsteps had him raise his gun automatically, firing shots into the man who rounded the corner who fell like the others.

He breathed a sigh of relief, before bringing himself to his feet. Time to leave the area and group with the others. He tucked his gun out of sight, knowing it would be suspicious in the public eye. Quickly he checked the file was in the bag, before trying to assume a causal stride as he walked away from the giant landing pad that had caused him pain.

The woman walking down the otherwise empty alley caused his hair to stand on end, the feeling of foreboding from before returning. There was little reason for him to be here, other than it was isolated enough to fit his needs of escape, but her? His phone beeped rapidly, something that was never good.

He pretended to reach for the device, curling his hand around his weapon instead that was behind his back. In his peripheral vision, he noticed something in one pocket that was not in the other. His heart racing from the escape moments ago, he could not ignore his paranoia. Giving her opportunity to ambush him, he looked down just for a moment.

Shots rang out and he instinctively moved to the right, bullets hitting him in the left side of his chest and arm. He hissed, throwing himself to the side as she came closer and he tried to duck behind the containers in the alley. His right hand pulled his weapon, which was lacking ammo, out and he fired off a shot to try and warn her off.

Thankfully, it worked despite the shot being nowhere near hitting. He heard a gasp over the channel and he hoped Jane was close. Straining his hearing over the pain, he heard the mystery assailant's heels clack against the ground. Straightening himself against the building wall, he peeked out only to have another bullet fired at him.

He returned fire, feeling dizzy from the blood loss. He wouldn't be able to last long; his aim was horrendous due to his injuries. Perhaps he could tell his team not to feel guilty, they had no idea this was coming. In the back of his mind, he wondered if she would mourn him as he would if she was the one in his shoes.

Another shot pinged off the structure he hid behind, bringing him back, and he counted the bullets he had left of an extended 12 round clip. Only 3 left, he cursed himself for using 8 bullets on 3 people when he had no backup. With little idea of what weapon or how many rounds she had, the odds were against him.

"20 seconds!" Jane was upset. She should never be, he thought to himself, she should be happy. That was the blood loss talking, he told himself. She shouldn't be angry with him, it's not like he wanted to be shot.

Things were starting to get a little fuzzy, the grip he had on his gun loosening. There were footsteps and he knew he should raise his weapon because it was likely the unknown hostile, but his hands weren't responding. Faintly, he recognized the sound of gunshots and footsteps running away.

"Trevor" There were hands on his face, cupping his chin, and he tried to focus his eyes on the owner of them as his own weapon slipped to the ground.

He smiled before weakly winking. "Told you I would take it from here."

She didn't respond, just pressing her folded jacket against the worst of his wounds. He groaned in pain, knowing it was necessary but not appreciating the pressure. Benji arrived soon after, or had it been minutes, and he listened as their call for a medic and transport because blurred and incoherent.

Darkness appearing in his vision, he wondered if they liked Budapest the city as well, or if he was alone in associating it with something other than him being shot.

xXx

Receiving a mission report well into his evening was not welcomed by the Secretary of the IMF. He knew it was the nature of the job, especially when the ones he received outside of more normal hours were of the utmost importance. Still, as an old man, he wished he could have moments of undisturbed peace.

Rising from the bed because of an alert on his phone, he settled in front of his computer to read what required his attention. From the corner, two eyes watched him out of curiosity, knowing that this activity was semi-normal but not lacking suspicion.

Turning his attention to the report, he grimaced. While no agents had died, one was injured and there was the need for a mission required three fit agents. Agent Hanaway was one of the more veteran members of the squad and for the mission of investigating Cobalt, his level of expertise if not more were needed.

Considering the options, the aged but wise man knew that an older asset was needed. One that could be trusted and could lead, the mission report noting that the team leader Agent Carter was rattled by the shooting. With the time limit added in before Cobalt or the Kremlin became suspicious, the Secretary made his decision.

Sending off the orders, he also put in a request for travel knowing that whatever occurred he would need to speak with agent being activated. There was movement in the room, he looked up to see the two eyes sitting before him with a curious enthusiasm within them.

He chuckled, knowing that at least he had someone to travel with him.

* * *

Reviews are welcomes and encouraged, ty.


	2. Chapter 2

Dog Brandt next chapter I promise.

Reviews are love, ask me if you have questions. Also I envision Hunt with a bit of an ego, which I'm sure is canon.

Let's get to it.

* * *

Agent Trevor Hanaway was not a happy camper.

He was happy to be alive yes, but he was not without irritation at being excluded from the mission that the other members of his team were currently on. Yes, he had had 3 bullets extracted from his upper torso and nearly bled out, but only being able to listen in from a safe house was uselessly mundane.

The only reason he was listening in in the first place, which was a break in policy, was because he had successfully guilt tripped Benji into giving a communicator to him. And while Hanaway would feel bad about doing so, he had to be involved in some sense and he knew that Benji respected that, relieving some of the bad feelings he had about making Benji involve him.

Jane was not pleased about the situation, but he threw in random comments when he could to distract her. He and Benji would banter, she would fake annoyance. But she was glad he was still here, that much was certain. He sighed deeply, leaning back against the pillows he had and ignoring the twinge in his shoulder. From what Benji had shared due to his tendency to overshare, she had taken his near death hard.

It could be rationalized as her being the team leader and failing him, but it seemed more personal than. He had ignored the implications of that and would continue to do so until he was fit enough to confront her directly. As he had learned previously, she would strike out when cornered and doing anything of the sort while injured was just asking for trouble.

So, while irritated, he sat back and listened to the mission to extract an asset commence. At some point he knew he was going to have to be quiet and quit talking, but until then he tried to become a docile bystander even though that label had never applied.

It did help that Jane was irritated as well, walking through a sewer. Then again, he almost wished he could be doing it for her.

* * *

Agent Ethan Hunt, who was in theory a former agent but was actually an undercover agent, was content. Most would not find a Russian prison to be a situation that they could enjoy or find themselves comfortable in, but Hunt was not most people. He engaged when necessary, but for the most part kept his head down while collecting information. It was not the most glamorous work, but it was predictable and helped to keep his mind off other things.

An alarm went off on his hall, he ignored it. Despite the rigorous nature of the institution, prisoners tried to escape or cause violence. Alarms were not common, but still occurred. It did not apply to him though and was no concern.

Throwing the rock at the wall, he knew the angle it would bounce and within seconds it came back to his hand. Simple and standardized like most things in the prison, he knew what to expect and despite missing some things of the world, he enjoyed the structure.

Dean Martin echoed into his cell.

Well, it theory it was predictable. He paused, listening to the familiar song sing down the halls. The door to his cell unlocked to swing open. Well that was a change of pace. Tucking the rock back into the place where he had carved it out, he exited the cell he had occupied.

Despite his confinement, he had lost none of his strength, which he used to his advantage to descend a level in order to reach the exit. Gracefully landing on his feet, the way he was meant to go illuminated itself by an opened door.

However, it occurred to him he was leaving someone behind. The team that was rescuing him was sure to be frustrated; however leaving such an asset behind was stupid. He could just hear the tech agent cursing at him now, something that nearly caused him to grin.

He turned and signaled for a door to be opened. It was ignored at first and he glared at the security camera. He had been out of the game yes, but surely the agents knew to listen to an older operative.

He repeated the action, it was still ignored. Giving his more serious look, while wondering how stupid the other agent was, he pointed from the camera to the door. Still it was ignored, to which he decided to just give a position of waiting. Gesturing in frustration to the guard point to his left, he waited for the assumed younger agent to relent.

After a moment, he had enough and threatened the camera with a fist. Finally the mystery agent on the other end relented and the door released. He gave a hand motion of thanks and continued on his way.

Continuing to the next block to retrieve the asset, Hunt wondered why they were pulling him. Obviously it was for an important reason, however it was still something he wished he had information on now instead of later. Fighting his way through the actual criminals of the prison and guards, he just hoped he was right about his timid friend being in his cell as was assumed.

He was, Bogdan poking his head up from a hiding place.

It was good to know that at least some things still turned out the way that he assumed. Calling to him, he quickly soothed the man and ushered him out of the cell. The song was reaching its last chorus, leading to a sense of urgency. Avoiding the SWAT units and the violent happy criminals while protecting someone, Hunt found himself annoyed at the escape plan despite knowing he had complicated it.

He called to the agent running tech, telling them to cause more chaos by opening all the doors along the halls. A lack of apprehension by authority told them his plan had succeeded as he raced unopposed down a back staircase with his criminal friend in tow, the last notes of the melody in his ear.

His friend started to panic at the dead end when the floor rattled and fell out; at least the original extraction plan was still stuck to. He attempted to show Bogdan how to work the rope system, which failed miserably. It wasn't that far of a fall though, so Ethan just rolled his eyes and descended himself. An Agent Carter greeted him by confirming his identity, which was not the worst introduction he had ever received by certainly not the best.

Running through a the sewer towards freedom while listening to a fuse burn behind him, Ethan Hunt found himself missing the structure of the prison he had just escaped. Then again, he had been freed for a reason.

In his experience, contentment was boring. Time for something new.

* * *

Waiting for the private organization jet to take off, the Secretary read the mission report on the successful breakout of the asset. There was a slight squeaking noise in the background as he read, something he found amusing because he knew it was done when the other passenger was nervous.

It was similar to a clicking of the pen or the taping of fingers, so he didn't hold it against them. While he was glad the asset was free and it had occurred with little difficulties besides Agent Hunt calling an audible, which really was to be expected, he knew the harder mission involving the Kremlin was to come.

Over the speaker system, the pilots announced that takeoff would occur soon. The Secretary settled in, motioning for the other passenger to do the same, who complied within minutes. At least someone listened to instructions, the older man thought to himself.

As the plane took off, the Secretary made a note to himself regarding noise making devices and the need to buy new ones, least his companion get anxious on the flight back.

* * *

Reviews are love ty.


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